The car business is one that’s in constant flux; people, nameplates and even brands change with practically every season. There’s no guarantee that what’s here today will still be available tomorrow.

Chrysler for instance recently jettisoned the long-running Town & Country, opting instead to call its totally redesigned minivan the Pacifica. This move is something of a head-scratcher since the old nameplate had strong recognition, but similar decisions made by other companies have made a lot more sense.

Volkswagen AG’s CEO stepped down late last year amid the ongoing diesel-emissions scandal. This is perfectly logical given the deep legal trouble this German firm is in.

Of course whole automakers have been swallowed up by history, succumbing to fierce competition. Once-proud brands like Franklin and Pope-Hartford, Stanley, Willys Knight, Crosley and hundreds of others have vanished from the American landscape as things slowly consolidated.

But most of these are decidedly Victorian, having disappeared the better part of a century ago. However, there are plenty of “modern” brands have gone under. Accordingly, here are the Top 10 Defunct Automotive Brands From the Last 20 years.

10. Oldsmobile

Ransom E. Olds was an early automotive pioneer. His firm, Oldsmobile, was founded a few years before the 20th Century’s dawn. A perpetual innovator, this marque pushed mass production years before Henry Ford perfected it. Beyond this, Oldsmobile was also the first to offer a truly automatic transmission and it helped ignite a V8 frenzy in the immediate post-war years with its powerful, overhead-valve Rocket engine. Despite a rich history this GM division was done by 2004.

9. Plymouth

Introduced in the late 1920s, Plymouth used to be Chrysler’s mass-market brand, appealing to blue-collar customers in need of sturdy, reliable, comfortable transportation. At the time it was a perfect foil to low-price leaders Chevrolet and Ford. Consequently, its sales grew rapidly through The Great Depression. Unfortunately, in later decades Plymouth stagnated, becoming just another corporate division selling rebranded products. The GTX, Roadrunner and Barracuda were some of its most memorable vehicles, as are the Voyager minivan and Prowler sports car in more recent years. The last Plymouth was built in 2001.

8. Mercury

GM and Chrysler have both jettisoned unnecessary brands and so has Ford. Their failed Edsel project is probably the most famous, but they’ve ditched a dizzying number of divisions if you count the now-defunct Premier Automotive Group, which used to include companies like Jaguar, Aston Martin and Volvo.

Along with Edsel, the company’s Mercury brand has also been relegated to the scrapyard in the sky. Founded in 1939 to bridge the price chasm between Ford and Lincoln, Mercury was a premium brand designed to fight marques like Buick and Chrysler. Initially this strategy seemed to work, but as with Plymouth, this brand became hopelessly redundant in later years. Smartly, by 2011 it was curtains for Mercury.

7. Pontiac

Pontiac was known for building sporty vehicles, something that, in theory at least, dovetailed nicely with their “driving excitement” tagline. Arguably the muscle-car era of the 1960s was the high-point for this youth-focused GM division as cars like the legendary GTO and big, beautiful Bonneville featured sporty styling and powerful engines. But for every laudable Pontiac there are at least a handful of laughable models. Products like the Sunfire, Trans Sport and shudder-worthy Aztek caused death by a thousand cuts exacerbated by GM’s bankruptcy filing. Twenty-ten was the end for Pontiac.

6. Fisker

But not all failed brands were once part of massive corporations. Plenty of independent automakers have fallen away over the years. Fisker, for instance, was founded back in 2007 and checked out in 2013, making it only half-a-dozen years. The company’s Krama was a gorgeous, plug-in, range-extended electric car. But environmental friendlies and stunning design weren’t enough to make it a showroom success, as a six-figure price tag was simply too rich.

5. Hummer

Looking to commute in an army truck but don’t have any contacts inside the Department of Defense? No problem! GM’s defunct Hummer brand would happily sell you a boxy rig styled like a military transporter, a consumer-grade facsimile of the Humvee. Their H2 and H3 models were the automotive equivalent of cod pieces sold to drivers with crippling inferiority complexes or other psychological disorders. Joking aside, these terrifyingly thirsty trucks drove poorly and looked like gaudy costume jewelry. Consequently the brand faded away in 2010 as part of GM’s bankruptcy filing.

4. Saturn

Along with Pontiac and Hummer, Saturn is another one of the General’s castoffs. It may have been “A different kind of company. A different kind of car,” but self-proclaimed uniqueness didn’t translate into success. Initially hatched in 1985 as a rival to Japanese automakers that had been winning hearts, minds and market share for years, this division focused on fuel efficient, no-nonsense small cars. And that strategy worked, for a while. But ultimately an uninspired lineup of rebadged products spelled the end for this division, which mercifully came in 2010.

3. SRT

Chrysler’s high-performance vehicles are branded SRT, which stands for Street and Racing Technology. These models gain upgraded suspension systems, unique trim, high-horsepower engines and numerous other enhancements that make them accelerate harder, stop quicker and turn better than their more plebian counterparts. But SRT is still in use so why is it on this list? Well, in case you forgot, during the 2013 and ’14 model years it was spun off as its own division. Do you remember the “SRT Viper”? It used to be its own thing; now it’s a Dodge again. #YouJustGotTrolled.

2. Eagle

GM has burned through A LOT of brands, both in recent years and throughout its long history. But Chrysler can give them a run for their money with divisions like DeSote, Imperial and Maxwell getting discarded like empty ketchup packets. But you can add another one to the list, a brand that got dropped less than 20 years ago. Eagle was a Pentastar division designed to fight foreign automakers and GM’s Saturn brand. During its existence it sold a hodge-podge of rebadged vehicles; some were from AMC, others were reworked Mitsubishis and still more were Americanized versions of Renault models. It was totally bizarre and ultimately a failure.

1. Saab

Finally, we come to Saab, the quirky Swedish automaker that is no more. GM owned this company until 2010 when its Chapter 11 filing claimed another victim. But unlike Pontiac or Saturn this wasn’t the end of the road. Boutique Dutch automaker Spyker purchased Saab’s leftovers and attempted to revive the brand. Predictably, these efforts were totally wasted and this would-be revival collapsed. Then, perhaps sensing blood in the water, Chinese investors got involved and attempted to build electrified 9-3 sedans, which didn’t end well. Ultimately this venture went belly up a couple years after it started, marking the end for this Saab story.

]]>http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2016/01/top-10-defunct-auto-brands.html/feed8more]]>Goodyear Eagle Sport All Season Tire Long-Term Review: Second Season Updatehttp://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2014/11/goodyear-eagle-sport-all-season-tire-long-term-review.html
http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2014/11/goodyear-eagle-sport-all-season-tire-long-term-review.html#commentsWed, 26 Nov 2014 18:12:42 +0000http://www.autoguide.com/?p=264814Goodyear Eagle Sport All Season Tire Long-Term Review: Second Season UpdateProperly testing a tire can be hard sometimes. Scroll to the bottom for a full second season update. Last year I headed down to the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving to test out Goodyear’s latest all-around, high-performance all-season tire, the Eagle Sport. Although a thorough test was performed in both wet and dry... more]]>Properly testing a tire can be hard sometimes. Scroll to the bottom for a full second season update.

This made it hard to garner any impression on whether the tire truly was an all-season tire. Sure it held up great in hot weather, but how would it perform when temperatures dip significantly? As luck would have it, for better or worse, I live in a region that sees four full seasons. After a quick phone call with Goodyear, a long-term test was set-up that would see a set of the Eagle Sports installed on one of my family’s vehicle, a 2008 Suzuki SX4 Sport sedan that would put them through their paces.

But unlike a lot of tire reviews, this isn’t going to be a one-season and done test. I plan to evaluate these tires over several seasons and gauge wear, driveability and durability. They Eagle Sports won’t be used in heart of winter as we switch over to a dedicated set of winter tires. But, they did stay on for a few light dustings of snow and temperatures that dipped below freezing.

Goodyear’s High Performance All-Season Tire

The Goodyear Eagle Sport All-Season is replacing one of Goodyear’s most successful tires of all time, the Eagle GT. Available in in 47 sizes and V or W speed ratings, the tire falls into the high performance all-season line, slotted below the Ultra-High Performance All-Season Eagle F1 asymmetrical tire.

As mentioned, the Eagle Sport is designed for wet, dry, and light snowy days that will see duty as both a replacement tire and an original equipment tire installed on vehicles from the factory.

The asymmetric tread pattern, which includes angled tread block edges, is designed to provide good handling and grip while also reducing road noise. The tire has the ability to maintain a large tread surface area, even under light loads, thanks to the overall design and rubber compounds used.

To keep contact in slippery conditions, there are numerous full-depth tread sipes to expel water as well as a silica compound to provide better grip. To ensure the tires and the wheels their mounted on last, a large wheel protection lip is built into the Eagle Sport to help guard against curb damage when parking.

The First Two Test Seasons

We installed a set of 205/50R17 Eagle Sport tires onto the Suzuki at the start of the summer with 53,710 miles reading on the odometer. Tread depth readings for all four tires measured in at 10/32nds at the start of test. Expect to pay around $127 a tire for this size according to tirerack.com.

During the first few weeks of the test I immediately noticed how smooth these tires are on a variety of road surfaces. Being a tire with sporty pretensions, there is usually a trade-off in ride quality. But that is not the case with the Eagle Sports. Compared to other high performance tires I’ve installed on the Suzuki, none match the smooth operation of the Eagles.

There is also a distinctly light feel to the tires. And by that I don’t mean a loose, non-direct, wobbly feel, but more of an airiness; like they make the car lighter. Turn-in, acceleration and deceleration all feel heightened with the tires, as if they some-how require less effort to change the cars direction than other tires of the same size. It also provided good feedback and the sidewalls despite their tendency for a smooth ride would not roll over during hard cornering and provided high levels of grip for an all-season tire.

Foul Weather? No Problem

In the rain, the Eagle Sports never skipped a beat. Their performance didn’t stand out compared to other high-performance all-season tires I’ve had installed on the Suzuki, but they were not any worse either. Regardless if it was warm or cold, wet weather conditions were no problem for the Goodyears.

Shortly before pulling the tires off of the car for the winter season, we had a few light dustings of snow and temperatures dipping below the freezing mark. Obviously the Eagle Sports are not going to perform as well as a specially formulated dedicated winter or snow tire, but I was still impressed by these all-seasons cold weather performance.

As anyone who lives in a region with a proper winter knows, the rubber on summer and all-season tires will actually begin to freeze at temperatures approach freezing. This causes the tire to adapt a non-uniform shape and offer less grip. Tires will chatter and vibrate when this occurs, especially at highway speeds. The Eagle Sports did not exhibit much of this ‘blocky square’ feeling some lesser all-season tires exhibit and in cold conditions, it didn’t take more than a few minutes of driving for the tires to warm up and reach acceptable operating temperatures.

The First Test Verdict

After four months of use and just 3,000 miles put on the Eagle Sports, the rear tires were showing virtually no wear with tread depth readings of just under 10/32nds with the front tires had worn down to 9.5/32nds. These readings seem to fall in-line with the Goodyear’s 50,000-mile tread life limited warranty.

Although a dedicated summer tire may handle a bit better, a long-life tire last longer or a winter tire tackle the cold weather better, the Eagle Sport is a good all-around compromise for all conditions. Those looking for a bit of performance in a tire that will not wear out quickly and be able to handle moderately cool climates, the Eagle Sport High-Performance All-Season is worth a look.

Second Season Update

Winter is upon us and it is time to wrap up another season with the Eagle Sport All-Season tires. They began the spring with the Suzuki’s odometer reading 58,756 miles. By season’s end the SX4 was up to 64,467 miles, meaning it racked up 5,711 miles this year. Combined with last year’s 3,000 mile journey, the tires now have nearly 9,000 miles on them.

So how are they holding up? Well, everything we liked about the tires initially still stands true. They’re quiet, comfortable and perform well in both dry and wet weather. Performance in terms of braking and cornering ability are unaffected thus far as the tire continues to work as advertised.

Tread depth is now around 8.5/32nds all-around, which appears to be a bit more wear than we expected. It will be interesting to see where they end up after season three and if any performance degradation begins as the tread depth starts to dissipate.

]]>http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2014/11/goodyear-eagle-sport-all-season-tire-long-term-review.html/feed13more]]>Goodyear Eagle Sport High Performance All-Season Tire Testhttp://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2013/06/goodyear-introduces-new-performance-all-season-tire.html
http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2013/06/goodyear-introduces-new-performance-all-season-tire.html#commentsThu, 06 Jun 2013 13:31:04 +0000http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/?p=199914Goodyear Eagle Sport High Performance All-Season Tire TestTire engineering is like rocket science. Ok, it might not be quite that complex, but its close. The technology used to create a modern, class leading tire is incredible. Aspects of a tires design, like sidewall chaffing caused near the tire bead, are things most consumers will never think about while flying down the freeway... more]]>

Tire engineering is like rocket science. Ok, it might not be quite that complex, but its close. The technology used to create a modern, class leading tire is incredible. Aspects of a tires design, like sidewall chaffing caused near the tire bead, are things most consumers will never think about while flying down the freeway at 75 mph. The amount of engineering and technology put into a tires development is staggering.

The components used to create a tire are not unique from manufacturer to manufacturer. In fact, most use roughly the same 60-70 components when producing a tire. The secret, as Goodyear puts it, is in the cooking. Give five top chefs the exact same ingredients, chances are the finished product will come out quite different.

GOODBYE EAGLE GT, HELLO EAGLE SPORT

And it is around this point during Goodyear’s presentation at the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving that we were introduced to their newest tire, the Goodyear Eagle Sport All-Season.

This new tire will fall into the high performance all-season family at Goodyear. It is replacing the Eagle GT as a mid-level tire and will fall below the Eagle F1 Asymmetrical All-Season tire in the performance hierarchy, but above value-oriented tires.

With this being the 6th high performance tire in the Goodyear family, it may seem a bit overkill, but not so fast; like beards and memes, performance tires are in vogue. Currently, 23% of the North American replacement tire market is for performance tires. That is up from 17% in 2006 and experts project a 3% increase annually going forward. One of the big reasons for this increase has to do with more OEMs putting performance tires on a larger assortment of their vehicles from the factory. So when it comes time to replace the original tires, consumers are a purchasing a similar performance tire.

AN ALL-AROUND PERFORMANCE TIRE

But the Eagle Sport All-Season won’t be a replacement special. Goodyear also plans to have it installed as an OEM tire on several vehicles in the future. With that in mind, despite performance drivers being the primary targeted consumer, many potential owners may not put that much weight on performance driving so the Eagle Sport needs to also be a good all-around tire too. The tire needs to be good in the dry and wet, be smooth, offer a quiet ride, handle ice and snow, and have long tread-wear life.

With these as the lofty ambitions, the engineers at Goodyear settled on an asymmetrical tire design that offers a blend of wet and dry handling. Sipes, or blades, are cut throughout the tread pattern and penetrate the entire tread depth for ice and snow traction. Goodyear claims this tire is significantly better in snow than major competitors sport all-season tires. But, since it is 100 degrees Fahrenheit in Phoenix during our test day, we cannot verify this claim. The Phoenix Coyotes NHL team aren’t using the Jobing.com arena this time of year, but despite our suggestion we head over there and do some donuts on the ice surface; the idea was shot down.

PUTTING IT TO THE TEST

What we are going to do is test the new Eagle Sport against the Firestone Wide Oval. The size chosen are 245/40R18 tires fitted to Audi A4 2.0T models with quattro all-wheel drive. We will be driving an Audi equipped with the Goodyear tires through a slalom course first, then follow it up by driving an Audi equipped with the Firestone tire immediately after. All tires on all the vehicles are set to 35 Psi as to not distort any results. The test course set before us is an autocross-style event that includes hard acceleration, slalom, wet cornering, wet braking, dry cornering and threshold braking.

Although seat time is limited and we are only driving these tires on the short autocross course, it is immediately apparent that the Eagle Sport has more grip in the corners. Wet or dry, the front end does not wash out as quickly as it does with the Firestones. Acceleration and braking feel similar between the two tires, but wet weather handling favored the Eagle as well. The lateral grip in the Eagle Sport allowed for greater speed to be carried through a corner and the Audi’s responses are more predictable on these tires.

AND FOR EVEN MORE PERFORMANCE

Goodyear also brought along the Eagle F1 Asymmetrical All-Season to showcase as last year, when it was all-new, they gathered a group of us automotive writing hacks together outside Seattle to demonstrate the tire. During testing it did nothing but rain, a lot, so we had no dry weather performance impressions of the tire. Bringing it to Phoenix in late spring is a fairly safe bet that the weather will be dry and sure enough the weather cooperated.

Goodyear strapped the tire to Cadillac CTS-V sedans and coupes and we set off on a short road course. Being a tight course, the heavy, brutally powerful CTS-V is a bit too much car for the facility. Cornering grip is impressive, but we’re unsure how much of that is attributed to the CTS-V’s amazing suspension set-up versus the actual tire. One thing that does surprise us though is how well planted, even with traction control set to competition mode, the rear tires are. With the incredible power that the CTS-V makes, it still takes a whole of throttle to get the rear-end dancing around.

THE VERDICT

But not everyone needs the all-out performance of an Eagle F1 Asymmetrical tire, nor do they want to pay for it. That is where the Eagle Sport comes in. With a 50,000 mile warranty and good value, it still offers a decent amount of performance in a quality all-season tire. Goodyear is hoping this formula will score well with consumers.

LOVE IT

60,000 mile warranty

Goodyear name

Cheaper than Eagle F1 Asymmetrical

LEAVE IT

Not as good wet/dry performance as Eagle F1 Asymmetrical

Untested winter performance

GALLERY: Goodyear Eagle Sport All-Season Gallery

]]>http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2013/06/goodyear-introduces-new-performance-all-season-tire.html/feed5more]]>AC Schnitzer Eagle Claims to be World’s Fastest MINI [with video]http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2011/06/ac-schnitzer-eagle-claims-to-be-worlds-fastest-mini-with-video.html
http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2011/06/ac-schnitzer-eagle-claims-to-be-worlds-fastest-mini-with-video.html#respondTue, 21 Jun 2011 18:23:43 +0000http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/?p=69388AC Schnitzer Eagle Claims to be World’s Fastest MINI [with video]AC Schnitzer is laying claim that they sport the world’s fastest MINI, with their John Cooper Works-based AC Schnitzer Eagle. And while you’re probably thinking AC Schnitzer set some record on the quarter mile or out at Nurburgring, their test bed was actually the famed Grand Prix Circuit at Hockenheim. It was there that their... more]]>

AC Schnitzer is laying claim that they sport the world’s fastest MINI, with their John Cooper Works-based AC Schnitzer Eagle. And while you’re probably thinking AC Schnitzer set some record on the quarter mile or out at Nurburgring, their test bed was actually the famed Grand Prix Circuit at Hockenheim. It was there that their Eagle laid waste to the track, clocking in a 1:13.341 lap time.

According to AC Schnitzer, that lap time is good enough to blow away MINI’s direct competition and only cars such as the X-BOW, M3 and AMG Mercedes were able to beat their Eagle around the track. To compare, BMW’s 1M Coupe recently logged a time of 1:14.1 in its 340-hp body. So AC Schnitzer has been able to fine-tune their Eagle to 260-hp and shaved off about 176-lbs and the result speaks for itself.

Unfortunately those interested in what AC Schnitzer has done to the John Cooper Works MINI in order to achieve this type of performance will have to sit in the dark some more. This was simply done as a concept study and will not be available for sale, as AC Schnitzer wanted to optimize all areas of the vehicle for efficient performance. What we do know is that along with the power upgrades (which includes a full exhaust), AC Schnitzer employed height-adjustable racing suspension and a set of 18-inch AC Schnitzer Mi2 wheels.

They did announce that the AC Schnitzer Eagle has a value of almost $89,000.